
Class. 
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SAVANNAH. GA. 

THE SAVANNAH MORNING NEWS 

1904. 



JAN 10 1905 
D.ofD, 



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NEW CITY HALL, SAVANNAH. CA. 
Erected 1904. Designed by Savannah Architect. Built by Savannah Contractors. 




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Savannah, Georgia, 

^ ^ A CITY OF OPPORTUNITIES. 







MAVANNAH, GEORGIA, is a city to live in for health, 
"r^ for pleasure, or for business purposes. 
It is the city of opportunities. 

It has a noble historic past, a past full of romance and 
sentiment; but it does not live in the past. 

It draws inspiration from the glorious deeds that have 
marked its history, but its eyes are set on the future, a 
future that is full of bright promise of rapid development, 
commercially and industrially, a future that seems to hold 
in store for the city wonderful growth in population and 
vast increase of wealth. 

Savannah keeps footstep with the spirit of the age. It throbs in 
unison with the great business heart of the world. 

One hundred and seventy years of great deeds endear it to the 
patriot, the historian, to all men whose souls are not callous to the 
achievements and lessons of bygone generations. 

But with all these memories it does not lack enthusiastic determina- 
tion to achieve new successes in the fields of modern endeavor. 

It does not rest content upon the laurels of the past, but is pushing 
forward to new victories in the varied life of to-day. 

Savannah is pre-eminently a city where trade, commerce, manufac- 
tures, are charmingly intermingled with the highest culture, with un- 
usual devotion to the beautiful, with deep appreciation of art, where the 
aesthetic side of life is cultivated while business opportunities are being 
seized and trade expanded in all directions. 

It is the ideal city for the investor, the merchant, the manufacturer, 
who desires, while establishing his business, to secure for his family the 
advantages of a home in a community where the higher things of life 
are not neglected. 

Savannah's progress in recent years compares favorably with that of 
any other city of the United States. 

Since 1880 its population has increased from 30,000 to 70,000. Its 
growth in the past five years has exceeded the increase in any previous 
five years of its history. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



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United States Post Office and Court Building, Savannatt, Ca. 
A $500,000 Marble Structure. 

Its taxable values have jumped from $17,000,000 iu 1880 to 
$42,000,000 at this time, on a moderate assessment, while its tax rate 
has been reduced to $1.30 net on the $100.00. 

Its commerce, extending to all parts of the world, has expanded in 
volume from 600,000 tons of freight annually in 1880 to 1,500,000 tons, 
while its values are now $160,000,000 as compared with $60,000,000 
then. 

Its manufactures have developed from practically nothing to fifty 
principal establishments, employing 4,300 hands, and with an output 
valued at $8,000,000 annually. 

A few miles of cheap tracks, with old cars drawn b>' ancient mules, 
have given way to fifty-one miles of the finest electric roads in the 
country, with cars of the largest and latest pattern. 

The area of the city has extended southward for over two miles, 
with hundreds of fine homes, possessing every modern comfort and con- 
venience, covering what was then unused and almost valueless commons. 
Many hundreds of dwellings have been erected in the past five years to 
meet the requirements of the fast increasing population, and many ad- 
ditional ones are in course of erection. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




ti;5 



Savannah, Georgia. — A CiTv of Opportunities. 




De Soto Hotel. Savannah's Famous Tourist Resort. Statue to Sergeant Jasper, oj 
Revolutionary Fame. 

Sandy road beds in the city have given way to up-to-date paved 
highways, thirty-four miles of asphalt, belgian block and vitrified brick 
pavements now enabling all parts of the city to be reached quickly and 
in comfort. 

Outside of the city the country has been drained and opened up to 
truck farmers. 

Forty miles of the finest suburban paved roads of the South extend 
in all directions, bringing pleasure resorts within easy reach, and 
enabling farmers to bring their produce to market in ease and at a 
minimum expense. 

On all sides the improvements in recent years have been enormous. 
Savannah to-day and Savannah twenty 3'ears ago are as different cities 
in many respects as though they were not the same municipality. 

The stranger who has not visited Savannah in some j^ears will be 
surprised at the vast strides that have been made, at the rapid increase 
in business, the great accumulation of wealth, and the many oppor- 
tunities that have been opened up for the investment of capital profitably. 

In the following pages some details are given that will be of interest 
and value. Fuller information on any point can be obtained on applica- 
tion to the Mayor of Savannah, or to the Savannah Chamber of Com- 
merce, Cotton Exchange, or Board of Trade. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



CLIMATE 



SAVANNAH'S climate is best described in one word, it is " ideal." 
Snow, sleet and slush are unknown. Ice is a rarity. 
Extreme heat is as unusual as extreme cold. While the 
North and the West are in the embrace of blizzards Savannah 
is enjoying a temperature that is bracing but not full of acute suffering 
and distress. 

Tourists have found Savannah the most enjoyable city of the South 
from December i to May i. 

When the northern and western cities are complaining of exceedingly 
high temperatures, while their hospitals are full of the victims of the 
heat, and the newspapers day after day chronicle scores of cases of pros- 
tration and sun-.stroke, Savannah revels in breezes direct from the ocean 
that temper the heat of midday, and render the nights cool and pleasant 
for repose. 

Sun-strokes are practically unknown in Savannah. An entire sum- 
mer often passes without a night in which sleep is not to be had with 
comfort. But ten miles from the Atlantic in an air line, every afternoon 
brings its refreshing wind from that inexhaustible source of health and 
comfort. 

The wide streets of the city, the many open spaces, the thousands 
of trees, all assist in making the summer pass more pleasantly in Savan- 
nah than in probably any other city in the United States outside of the 
mountains. 

The following official statement from the United States Weather 
Bureau gives detailed information as to climatic conditions here : 
Seasonal Means of Temperature. 



December 52° 

January 51° 

February 54° 

Mean 52° 



March 59° 

April 66° 

May 74° 

Mean 66° 



June 79° 

July 82° 

August 81° 

Mean 81° 



September 76° 

October 67° 

November 58° 

Mean 67"^ 



PRECIPITATION ^Amount Rain- 


■fall In inches and hundredths). 


Annual Mean 


Greatest Yearly 


Year 


Least Yearly Year 


50.85 


73-94 


1885 


36.84 1901 



Seasonal Averages of Rain-fall in Inches 



December 3.15 

January 3.09 

February 3.28 

Seasonal Avg...9.52 



March 3.67 

April 3.28 

May 2.76 

Seasonal Avg...9.7i 



June 6. II 

July 5-82 

August 7.89 

Seasonal Avg. 19.82 



September 5.67 

October 3.69 

November 2 . 44 

Seasonal Avg. 11.80 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 





Yachts ofj Savannah Yacht Club at Thunderbolt. 



HEALTH, 



5AVANNAH to-day stands pre-eminent among American cities from 
the standpoint of general healthfulness. 
For miles around the country has been thoroughly drained. 
In the city an extensive system of sewerage has recently been 
supplemented by a modern house-drainage system, the plan of the noted 
New York engineer, the late Col. George Waring. 

The entire water supply of the city is obtained from artesian wells 
from 500 to 1 , 500 feet deep. This water is the purest furnished to con- 
sumers in the United States, filtered by nature. The chemical 
analyses, to which it has been subjected, show it absolutely free from 
any deleterious matter. It is clear as crystal and flows at the rate of ten 
million gallons daily. The waterworks are owned and operated by 
the municipal government and the rates are so low that all enjoy an 
abundance of water for domestic and manufacturing purposes. 

The death rate among the white population of the city for the year 
1903, which was in nowise an exceptional year as regards mortality, was 
13 to the 1,000 population. In all there were but 481 deaths among the 
whites, from all causes. One remarkable fact in this connection, is that 
73 of these were of persons over 70 years of age, a fact that speaks vol- 
umes for conditions prevailing here as to longevity. 

A Health Officer, with a large and efficient corps of sanitar}^ agents, 
keeps the city under careful inspection at all times. The city is protected 
from invasion of disease from abroad by the United States Marine Hos- 
pital vService, which maintains a well equipped quarantine station at the 
mouth of the Savannah river. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Oppcrtunities. 



EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS. 



OVER seven thousand pupils are enrolled in the public schools of 
Savannah, occupying fourteen school buildings and taught by 
154 teachers. Of these 4,567 are white children, in ten schools, 
taught by no teachers, and 2,517 colored children, in four 
schools, taught by 43 teachers. In the county, outside of the city limits, 
there are 638 white children, in 13 schools, taught by 17 teachers, and 
2,492 colored children, in 27 schools, taught by 27 teachers. In the 
entire county there are 9,509 children receiving a free education. 




Savannah Free Public Library — 25.000 Volumes. 



Savannah was one of the first cities of the South to recognize the 
importance of public schools. Its educational system is now recognized 
as thoroughly abreast with the best in this country. During the year 
1903 the expenditures were $156,000. The course covers ten years, two 
in the primary, five in the grammar, and three in the high school. 

In addition to the public schools there is a number of private schools 
in the city, and a well developed free kindergarten system to the exten- 
sion of which especial attention is being paid. 

A public library of 25,000 volumes, to membership in which all 
white residents are eligible without cost, is a valuable adjunct to the 
public schools. 

The Telfair Art Gallery, which possesses the finest collection of art 
works in the South, enables students to pursue their work under many 
advantages. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



13 




H 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



15 




Telfair Art Academy. Finest Collection of Paintings and Sculptures in the South. 

The curriculum in the pubHc schools is being steadily broadened. 
The buildings are the finest in the South for educational purposes. The 
accompanying illustrations convey an idea of the class of buildings 
erected in Savannah for its schools. 

The home seeker can find here every opportunity to educate his 
children at a minimum of expense. 

In the State there are several colleges, in addition to the State 
University, at which tuition fees and living expenses are exceedingly 
moderate. 




A Bay Street Block. 



i6 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 





NATIONAL BANK OF SAVANNAH. 
Building Construction Begins in October. 1904. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



17 



FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS. 




T 



*HE conservatism 
and strength of 
Savannah's fi- 
nancial institu- 
tions have ahnost become 
a proverb in the South. 
In financial circles 
throughout the country 
their stability and able 
management are recog- 
nized. They meet in 
full the large monetary 
requirements of the busi- 
ness community. With 
a capital and surplus 
exceeding $5,000,000 
and deposits in excess 
of $10,000,000 and con- 
nected with the strongest 
banking institutions of 
the North, they are ever 
ready to supply the 
wants of their patrons. 
Savannah has not 
known a bank failure in a half century or more. Ev'ery one of its finan- 
cial institutions is in a highl}^ prosperous condition, their dividends 
varjang from six to eight per cent, per annum, and considerable addi- 
tions being made j^early to their reserve funds. Their directorates 
include the leading business men of the city, and each enjoys the abso- 
lute confidence of the business interests of the community and state. 
With correspondents throughout the north, south and west, they are in 
position to handle economically and expeditiously all business entrusted 
to them and have been a powerful factor in the splendid development of 
Savannah's business during the past two decades. 

Ten institutions conduct the enormous banking business of the city, 
their united clearings for the year 1903 exceeding $195,000,000, over 
$50,000,000 more than the bank clearings of Atlanta, and almost equal 
to the combined bank clearings of Augusta, Macon, Chattanooga and 
Jacksonville. Their capital, surplus and deposits are as follows : 



Liberty Street Branch of Citizens San/c. 



i8 



Savannah, Georgia.- A City of Opportunities. 




GERMANIA BANK BUILDING, 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



19 




Southern Bank Building. 



lANK. 



Capital. 



Surplus and 

Undivided 

Profits. 



Total. 



Deposits. 



Merchants National 

National Bank of Savannah I 

Southern ! 

Citizens 

Gerniania 

Savannah Bank & Trust Co 

Savannah Trust Co 

Chatham 

Oglethorpe Savings & Trust Co 
Commercial 



Total.... 



500,000 
250,000 
500,000 
500,000 
300,000 
350,000 
500,000 
150,000 
125,000 
50,000 



134,823 
280,150 
505,050 
312,925 
208,368 
157,662 

93, "4 

41,910 

86,712 

9,416 



634,823 
530,150 
1,005,050 
812,925 
508,368 
507,662 

593,114 

191,910 

211,712 

59,416 



$ 3,225,000 I I 1,830,130 i I 5,055,130 



303,800 
811,854 
2,343,407 
2,436,434 
1,398,424 
1,409,640 
405,000. 

535, 94^-. 
566,841 

234,613-. 



|io,535,955 



Savannah Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Merchants National Bank. 



A coaling station is projected at this port, which promises to be of 
great importance, enabling vessels of all sizes to coal here rapidly and 
economically. It is expected that work on the plant will begin this fall. 
It is proposed to duplicate one of the finest plants North. 



The value of the cotton handled through Savannah for the fiscal crop 
year ending September i, was $72,500,000. 



Savannah's retail trade is valued at over $41,000,000 a 3'ear, and is 
steadily growing. 



The rosins and spirits turpentine handled at Savannah for the year 
ending September i, 1904, aggregated in value $10,000,000. 



Savannah is becoming more and more of a supply point for building 
materials. Its trade in such articles has now reached $2,000,000. 



The Armour Fertilizer Company has completed arrangements for the 
erection of a 90,000 ton plant to be erected on Hutchinson Island, in 
front of the city, and adjacent to the S. A. Iv. R. R. terminals. 



A dry dock capable of serving the largest vessels visiting the port of 
Savannah is projected. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



TRANSPORTATION FACILITIES 



FOUR great railroad systems center at Savannah, and two steamship 
Hnes operating the finest fleets of coastwise steamships on the 
Atlantic coast connect it with the ports of the North. Direct 
communication is also had with the countries of the old world 
by regular lines of freight steamships, and scores of tramp steamers and 
sailing vessels that visit the port during the year. 

The railroad systems centering at Savannah, giving it direct con- 
nection with all parts of the United States, and enabling its jobbers and 
manufacturers to keep in touch with distributors and consumers every- 
where, are as follows : 



SYSTEM 


MII^EAGE 


STATES TRAVERSED. 


Central of Georgia... 

Seaboard Air Line 

Atlantic Coast Line 

Southern 


1,845 
2,612 

4,034 

7,139 


Georgia and Alabama. 

\ Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
} lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama 
\ Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
} lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama. 
( Virginia, North Carolina, South Caro- 
•< lina, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mis- 
( sissippi, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee 


Four Systems 


15,630 


Ten States. Population 16,000,000. 





The Ocean Steamship Company operates eleven steamships, with a 
total tonnage of 45,700, from Savannah to New York and Boston. 

The Merchants and Miners Transportation Company operates seven 
steamships, of 17,100 tonnage, connecting Savannah with Baltimore and 
Philadelphia. 

These vessels carry both passengers and freight, and give three sail- 
ings weekly from Savannah to New York, one to Boston, two to Phila- 
delphia, and three to Baltimore. 

In all, these railroad and steamship systems have terminals here cov- 
ering 750 acres, and with a wharf frontage of 25,000 feet, or nearly five 
miles 

Their facilities for the prompt and cheap handling of freights are 
not surpassed at any port of the world. Freights are discharged directly 
from the steamships to the cars and vice versa. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




5 t- 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 



23 



Savannah's superb transportation facilities make it an unexcelled 
distributing point. A number of firms located at other trade centers 
have established warehouses here and supply theii customers from Sav- 
annah. Merchants throughout Georgia, Florida, the Carolinas and 
Alabama, largely receive their goods through this port. 

A Union depot, costing with approaches $700,000, is used by all of 
the roads entering here, except the Central of Georgia which maintains 
its own depot. 

St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, and other centers for the distribu- 
tion of food products, as well as Chattanooga, Birmingham, and other 
important points in the mineral section of the South, are many miles 
nearer to Savannah than to any of the Northern seaports. 

Nearly all of the cotton mills of the South are within a radius of 
three hundred miles of Savannah. 

Savannah is recognized as the natural port of entry and export for 
the entire southeast, and for a great extent of western country. The 
construction of the Panama canal will strengthen its position in this and 
other respects. When that great waterway is completed Savannah will 
be 705 miles nearer to its mouth than New York, 610 miles nearer than 
Philadelphia, and 520 miles nearer than Baltimore. It will also be 
nearer than New Orleans or Galveston. 

All experts on the commercial situation predict a vast and rapid 
growth for the business of Savannah with the completion of the canal 
across the isthmus. 

From a transportation standpoint. Savannah offers every advantage 
to the merchant and manufacturer. 








bavannah Yacht CiuD. at I nunderboli. Six Miies Jrom Savannah on Electric kaiiway. 
A Beautiful Stretch of Water to the Sea. 



24 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 











Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



25 



COMMERCE. 




5 



AVANNAH is the prin- 
cipal seaport of the 
South Atlantic Coast. 
Its importance has 
been recognized for many 
years by the federal govern- 
ment, which has expended in 
all seven million dollars in the 
improvement and deepening 
of its harbor. There is now 
practically a depth of 28 feet 
at mean high tide in its chan- 
nel from the city to the sea. 
A movement has been inaugu- 
rated looking to a fur- 
ther survey and appropri- 
ation for 30 feet at mean low 
water. Competent engineers 
have declared this practicable, 
and at the next session of 
Congress a surv^ey will prob- 
ably be ordered. 

Three billion pounds of 
freights passed inward and outward through Savannah ^'during the year 
1903. This applies only to freights handled via ocean routes. 

The value of foreign commerce of the port for that year was 
$58,566,773. In 1890 it was but $30,949,991. 

The coastwise or domestic commerce exceeded $100,000,000 in value, 
including all kinds of raw products of the South and various manufac- 
tured goods both ways. 

In all there were 824 arrivals of vessels coastwise during 1903, and 
145 from foreign ports, a total of 969 vessels arriving during the year. 
Their total tonnage was 1,414,254. 

Practically an equal number of vessels cleared from the port during 
the year, making a total tonnage inward and outward approaching 
3,000,000. 

In the foreign trade the average tonnage of vessels visiting this port 
has increased 115 per cent, in the past twelve years. The largest freight 
steamships afloat now regularly visit Savannah for cargoes. 



Savannah Cotton Exchange. 



26 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 



27 



The chief articles of export are cotton, rosins, spirits turpentine, 
lumber and timber, phosphate rock, iron and steel and manufactured 
forms, cotton manufactured goods, cotton seed oil and other products of 
the cotton seed, fruits and vegetables, and miscellaneous manufactured 
goods. 

Savannah draws freight from twenty-two states, as follows : 

Cotton from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, Tennessee, 
Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. 

Naval stores from Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, South 
Carolina. 




Loading Lumber. Savannah Exports Qvar 200.000.000 Feet Yearly. 



28 



Savannah, Georgia — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 



29 




United States Custom House at Savannah. 



Phosphate rock from Florida. 

Lumber, Etc., from Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, Alabama, 
Mississippi. Hardwoods from Tennessee. 

Cotton manufactures from Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina 
and Alabama. 

Fruits and vegetables from Georgia, Florida and South Carolina. 

Iron, steel, etc., from Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee. 

Grain, grain products and packing house products from Michigan, 
Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Nebraska, Kansas, Kentucky, Ten- 
nessee, Indian Territory, Oklahoma. 

Canned goods from Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, 
Mississippi, California, Washington, Oregon. 

Groceries, provisions, etc., from points as far w^est as Cincinnati, 
Chicago, St. Louis, Kansas City, Omaha, and as far north as Baltimore 
and New York, and east as far as Boston. 

Manufactured goods from all points north and as far west as Ne- 
braska and Michigan. 

Shipments of phosphate rock through this port increased from 7,000 
tons in 1892 to 186,000 tons in 1902. 

Shipments of lumber and timber increased from 56,000,000 feet in 
1880 to over 205,000,000 feet last year. 

Shipments of pig iron have grown from 12,000 tons twenty years 
ago to approaching 100,000 tons. 

Shipments of cotton seed and its products, cotton seed oil, meal, etc., 
are now over 50,000 tons a year. This class of exports is steadily in- 
creasing. 



30 Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



Cotton, the South 's great staple, is handled in enormous quantities 
at Savannah. For the crop j^ear ending September i, 1903, there were 
exported from this port over 1,300,000 bales, weighing 325,000 tons. 

Savannah holds the world's record for the largest cargo of cotton 
exported. In November, 1903, the British steamship St. Andrew was 
cleared from this port with a cargo equivalent to 26,6^9 square bales of 
500 lbs. each, her registered tonnage being 4,451. 

Of cotton manufactured goods 30,000 tons were shipped through 
Savannah in 1903, an increase over 1902 of 65 per cent. Savannah is 
the outlet through which Southern mills, in increasing numbers, ship 
their products to the markets of the world. 

Savannah handles yearly a million barrels of rosins and turpentine. 
It is the greatest port and the chief market of the world for these products 
of the South. 

Every year shows a marked increase in the commerce of Savannah. 
Its future is recognized as the brightest among Southern ports. 

Eight miles of river front afford ample wharfage facilities. 




Interior View Antiseptic Broom Co.'s Factoiy. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City ok Opportunities. 



31 




32 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




John Rourke and Sons' Foundry, Machine Shops and Marine Railway. 



MANUFACTURES. 



WHILE Savannah is, comparatively, in the infancy of its industrial 
development, it possesses a number of large and important 
manufacturing establishments, and many of minor size which 
are prospering and developing rapidl}^ steadily increasing their 
capital, output and wage roll. 

The fifty principal manufacturing concerns of the city now employ 
about 4,300 hands, and have an output yearly of the value of over 
$8,000,000. 

The past five years have seen a remarkable development in this de- 
partment of activity. A number of the city's largest manufactures have 
been established during that time, have been exceedingly successful, 
and have opened the way for other industries, several of which are now 
projected. 

Every indication points to Savannah becoming one of the chief man- 
ufacturing cities of the nation within a few years. The stability of its 
present industries, the success they have achieved, and the rapid increase 
in the capital invested, the number of hands employed, and the value of 
their output, speak strongly of Savannah's future along this line. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunitihs. 



33 




Plant of Eagle Mfg Co.. Planing Mill and Manufacturers of Boxes and House Building 

Soft Materials. 



The largest industries are located on the river front, where the ad- 
vantages of cheap handling of their raw materials and the manufactured 
products offer inducements. Ample room still exists there for a number 
of industries. At other points in or adjacent to the city land suitable 
for manufactories is to be had that possesses admirable transportation 
facilities. 

One of the great advantages Savannah possesses as a manufacturing 
point, outside of the superior water and rail transportation facilities, is 
the mildness and equableness of its climate. Work here, either indoor 
or outdoor, is not interfered with and hampered by severe weather, either 
extremes of heat or cold. It is probable that there is less loss of time in 
the average manufacturing establishment in Savannah from climatic causes 
than in any other town of the United States. There is also naturally a con- 
siderable saving in heating, and the long days enable the operation of 
plants without artificial lights over the greater part of the year. Fuel is 
cheap, taxes low, labor easily trained. 

From Savannah its manufactured products are distributed over a 
half dozen or more southern states, with an aggregate population of ten 
millions. These states are rapidly growing in wealth and people ; their 



34 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 




Sash, Door and Blind Factory and Planing Mill of A. S. Bacon <& Sons. 




Savannah Brewing Company's Plant. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



35 




Works of the Georgia Car and Manufacturing Co. 

demands are broadening every year, and manufacturers located at Savan- 
nah are in a position to meet their wants under conditions that are most 
favorable for success. 

Many openings exist for new enterprises. Considerable of the goods 
of all kinds used in this section are still brought from the north and west, 
at great expense for handling and transportation, which could and should 
be made at home. Manufacturers, who enter this field, study the de- 
mands of the people, and meet them, will place themselves on the high 
road to wealth. 

Savannah offers every possible encouragement to men embarking in 
manufacturing industries, large or small. Especially favorable are the 
opportunities for manufactures into which lumber, cotton and wool 
largely enter, Savannah being a great market for these raw products of 
the South. Every article which enters into daily use could be made here 
profitably. 

Savannah's manufactures now include fertilizer works, soap facto- 
ries, breweries, machine shops, iron foundries, copper foundries, crate 
and box factories, pants factories, cigar factories, railroad car works, 
locomotive works, candy factories, broom factories, baking powder facto- 
ries, copper works, marine railways, ice factories, sash, door and blind 
factories, planing mills, rice mills, mattress factories, harness works, 
wooden ware factory, coffin factory, rosin oil works, paint and varnish 
works, proprietary medicine works, boot and shoe factories, canning fac- 
tories, cotton seed oil works, etc. 



36 



Savannah, Georgia.- A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 37 



WHOLESALE TRADE. 



THE greater part of four leading southern states is tributary to 
Savannah as a jobbing centre. From its wholesale houses the 
merchants of the interior towns of Georgia, Florida, Alabama 
and South Carolina, to a large extent, draw their supplies of goods. 

Savannah's position as a seaport, with extraordinary transportation 
connections with the great markets of the North, gives it the benefit of 
cheap freight rates from the mills of that section. With ten steamships 
sailing from four great northern emporiums of trade to Savannah every 
week, its jobbers are enabled to receive their stocks continuously and at 
the minimum of expense. 

The four great railroad systems centering here place them in easy 
communication at all times with all interior points in the states men- 
tioned, enabling them to supply the wants of their merchant customers 
promptly and satisfactorily. 

As a result of these favorable conditions, and of the enterprise of its 
business men, Savannah has, for many years, been one of the greatest 
distributing points of the South. Its jobbing trade is now placed at 
$52,500,000 yearly, divided as follows: Groceries, $12,000,000; dry 
goods, $7,000,000 ; boots and shoes, $3,000,000 ; clothing, $4,000,000 ; 
hardware, $4,000,000 ; fruits, vegetables and provisions, $5,000,000 ; 
liquors and tobacco, $10,000,000 ; fertilizers, $3,500,000 ; hay, grain 
etc., $2,000,000; builder's supplies, $2,000,000. 

The section of the South tributary to Savannah is rapidly develop- 
ing in population and wealth. With its growth the jobbing trade of 
Savannah must continue to expand and prosper. The peculiar advan- 
tages the city enjoys have been recognized by competitors in Atlanta and 
other cities who have been forced to establish large warehouses here, 
from which they can meet the demands of their patrons in the section 
referred to. Savannah's superior position and facilities for meeting trade 
requirements must enable it to extend its wholesale trade with each year. 
It offers man)' inducements for the investment of capital in this line of 
business. 



Small industries are thriving in Savannah. There is opportunity 
here for many more. 



Uncleared land can be bought a few miles from Savannah at $10 an 
acre, which could be developed into profitable truck farms. 



One million dollars worth of wool is handled in vSavannah every year. 
The Georgia crop is practically marketed through this port. 




Interior View Morehouse Mfg. Co.. Manufacturers of Baking Powders. Etc. 

























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Box. Crate and Tub Works of the Pierpont Mfg. Co. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 39 



CITY GOVERNMENT. 



5AVANNAH has a thoroughl}' organized municipal government, 
with all the departments pertaining to a modern city well 
equipped for their work and maintained at all times in a first- 
class condition. 

The city's revenues, about $900,000 a year, enable it to provide all 
of its departments with up-to-date appliances, to keep a sufficient number 
of trained employes in each of them, and to carry on their business in a 
manner satisfactory to its citizens. 

The direction of municipal affairs is centered in the Mayor and 
twelve Aldermen, elected bi-ennially, by the vote of the entire city. 

The departments are under the direction of superintendents elected 
by the Mayor and Aldermen and subject to removal by that body. 

The police force consists of 95 men, of whom 23 are mounted. It is 
provided with the Gamewell telegraph system, and covers the city effec- 
tively. Expenditures in this department are $90,000 annually. In 
addition there are four private police forces, regulated by city ordinances, 
for the protection of railroad and steamship terminals, consisting of 50 
men. 

The fire department includes 86 men, operating 7 engines, of the 
latest pattern, 11 hose reels, i chemical engine, 3 hook and ladder 
trucks. Expenditures $81,000 yearly. 

The department of public works, which includes the maintenance 
and cleaning of highwa3-s, the scavenger work, drainage, etc., gives 
employment to 200 men, and expends on such departmental work 
$135,000 yearly. 

The water works department, caring for the artesian water plant 
supplying the city with purest w^ater, for all purposes, and a reserve 
plant for the use of river water in an emergency, expends $60,000 yearly. 
The average daily pumpage of artesian well water is 8,600,000 gallons, 
or over 120 gallons for every man, woman and child. 

The health department includes the Health Officer, one food inspec- 
tor and seven sanitary inspectors. Its expenditure are $18,000 yearly. 

The city is lighted by 520 arc lights, at a cost of $37,000. 

Out of its total income in 1903 $150,000 was expended on new 
improvements, such as paving streets, opening streets, etc. 

One fourth of all the expenditures of the city government, exclusive 
of sinking fund and interest on debt, are for permanent public better- 
ments. 

Savannah has issued no bonds in a quarter of a century. Its credit 
is of the highest. Its old bonds command a fine premium. 




Foundry and Machine Shops of Wm Kehoe & Sons. 




Works of the Southern States Fertilizer Co. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



41 



The assessed valuations for 1904 are $42,062,192. Five years ago 
they were $36,582,859. Average yearly increase $1,100,000. 

The city tax rate is $1.45 on the $100, less 10 per cent, for prompt 
payment, making a net tax rate of $1 .30 on the $100. 

In 1903 there were issued 638 permits for new buildings and 
improvements ; in 1902, 578 permits. New buildings and improvements 
are on equally as extensive a scale this ^^ear. 

In the past five years over nine miles of streets have been paved with 
asphalt, belgian blocks and vitrified bricks. The city now has forty 
miles of paved streets and lanes, and is paving on an average of two 
miles yearly. 

The new city hall, in course of construction, will cost when com- 
pleted, $250,000, entirely paid for out of the regular revenues, without 
additional taxation or obligations of any nature. 

A Park and Tree Commission has charge of the parks, squares, 
grass plats, trees and cemetery. It is steadily beautifying the city. It 
puts out about 1,000 trees each year. Savannah is known far and wide 
as "The Forest City of the South." 

The city has a scientific house drainage system, distinct from the 
regular sewerage system for the carrying off of rain water, etc. 




J. J. McDonough <& Co.'s Lumber and Planing Mill. 











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P. Shatter Co. 's Rosin Oil Works. Largest in the World. Twenty-one Stills. Using 60.000 Barrels 
of Rosin Yearly. Manufacture Rosin Oils, Lubricating Oils. Brewer's Pitch. Etc. 




Yards and Barreling Department Shatter Rosin Oil Works. 




Savannah Locomotive Works. 




An Interior View. Standard Candy Co. 's Factory 




American Cigar Co.'s Factory. Employs 500 Girls and Women. 




McMillan Bros' Coppei Works. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



45 




One of the Dixon Lumbei Company's Plants. 




Savannah Candy Factory. 



46 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Vale Royal Lumber Mill. 




Savannah Volunteer Guards' Armory. 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 47 




Bathing at Isle of Hope. One of Savannah's Nearby Resorts. 

SPORTS AND PLEASURE RESORTS. 



5URF BATHING, still water bathing, yachting, rowing, fishing, 
hunting, automobiling, road driving, golf; these and other pleas- 
ures are at the command of the Savannahian. 

Tybee Island, but eighteen miles from the city, with an excellent 
train service throughout the summer, possesses one of the best beaches 
on the Atlantic coast. It has a fine hotel, manj^ boarding houses, and a 
large number of cottages which can be rented for the season. Fishing, 
crabbing and turtle hunting add to the enjoyment of the visitor. Two 
days each week the fare to the island from the city is but 25 cents for the 
round trip ; on other days, 40 cents. A book of 52 tickets, good for a 
year, can be had for $6.50, enabling one to make the trip to and from the 
shore at any time for 25 cents. 

Isle of Hope, Thunderbolt, Montgomery and other suburban water- 
ing points, within four to ten miles of the city, are reached by trolley cars 
of the Savannah Electric Company at a total expense of five or ten cents 
each way. At these places the visitor can enjoy salt water bathing with- 
out the surf accompaniment. Row boats, power launches, tackle and 
bait are for rent, and the finest fishing in the country is near by. 

At Thunderbolt a casino with beautiful grounds, admission to which 
is free, provides theatrical performances and various kinds of amusement 
throughout the sunnner. This and other resorts are noted for their fish 
dinners. 

Among the fish frequenting the fresh and salt waters about Savannah 
are the bass, drum, black, rock, red snapper, jack, whiting, fresh water 
trout, sea trout, shad, cavalli, sheepshead, grouper, flounder, perch, 
mullet, bream, croaker, sea cat, pompano, sturgeon, German carp, etc. 
It is not infrequently that a string of a hundred or more fish, weighing 
from one to one hundred pounds, is the result of a .single day's sport. 
Some of the gamest fish of America abound in this vicinity. 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 




Grounds of the Casino. Thunderbolt. 




Bicyclists on the Ogeechee Road, near Savannah. This City is the Bicyclist's Paradise 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City ok Opportunities. 



49 



On the waters and in the country round about Savannah the sports- 
man finds ample game in season. Deer and bear are shot within a few 
miles of the city, and among the birds that fill the gunner's bag are part- 
ridge, every variety of wild duck, snipe, woodcock, plover, marsh hen, 
dove, rail and others. 

The finest paved roads in the South stretch out in all directions from 
the city, connecting it with the watering resorts. Running through the 
pine woods and skirting the waterways, these highways present many 
pretty bits of scenery. They are exceedingly popular with automobilists, 
a number of whom bring their machines from the North and West and 
winter here. Locally two hundred and fifty automobiles are owned, 
ranging from the modest vehicle for two, to the most powerful machines 
costing $5,000. Savannah is the greatest automobiling point in the 
South. A speedway is projected, and every year the improvement of 
the country highways continues. To the bicyclist Savannah is a veri- 
table paradise. The lover of driving finds excellent service at the 
several livery stables. 



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Power Launches Dot the Waters About Savannah. Scene at Thunderbolt. 



50 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 



51 



Yachting is a time honored sport at Savannah. A number of fast 
boats are owned by devotees, and the annual regatta is an event of social 
as well as sporting importance. Scores of naphtha and gasoline launches 
dot the waters near the resorts. The Savannah Yacht Club owns fine 
quarters near Thunderbolt, and has a membership of several hundred. 

The links of the Savannah Golf Club are recognized as among the 
finest in the South and are deservedly popular with lovers of the game. 

The mildness of the winter enables the Savannahian to extend his 
out-of-door sports throughout the year. While snow and ice cover the 
North and West the waters and fields and woods of this vicinity are open 
to the lover of nature and the sportsman. Amateur photographers here 
revel in opportunities to secure beautiful views on land and water. The 
Savannah Camera Club has a large membership, excellently equipped 
quarters, and visiting photographers can enjoy every advantage for a 
nominal fee. During the winter the accommodations of the hotels and 
numerous boarding houses are often taxed. There are three large hotels, 
the De Soto, Pulaski House and Screven House, whose rates are 
moderate for the accommodations furnished.* Good accommodations can 
be had in any of the numerous boarding houses at reasonable rates. 







Savannah Col; Club House. 



52 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 



53 




54 



Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 55 



TRUCK FARMING. 



ClylMATE, soil and situation have combined to render the country 
adjacent to Savannah pecuHarly adapted for profitable truck 
farming for the northern markets. 

Within view of the city, running close to its electric lines, its 
steam railroads and its wharves, are thousands of acres already developed 
into rich gardens of small fruits and vegetables. 

Awaiting the advent of men with experience and energy to convert 
them into similar sources of wealth are thousands of other acres of land 
capable of bearing every vegetable that is usualh^ found in the markets 
of the great centres of population. 

When the snow covers the hills and valleys of the north and the 
farmer's occupation there is restricted to the care of his stock, the 
truckers of Savannah's vicinity are watching the rapid growth of their 
crops and preparing for their picking and shipment to the large cities of 
other sections. 

When the farmers of the eastern and middle states have just put the 
plough into the soil the farmer of this neighborhood is receiving hand- 
some cash returns from the commission merchants who have begun to 
dispose of the first of the season's fruits of his labors. 

By the time the farmer a few hundred miles to the north is watching 
the first sprouts that tell of the coming of his crops, the farmer who re- 
sides in or near Savannah has begun to plant his second crop on some 
sections of his land, while from others his hands are gathering the vege- 
tables that are in demand at remunerative prices among the millions who 
are just welcoming the balminess of spring elsewhere. 

Railroad, steamship and express companies unite in their endeavors 
to give him rapid communication with his customers. 

Refrigerator cars carry his perishable fruits, ventilated cars are al- 
ways at his sendee, and the steamships plying to New York, Boston, 
Baltimore and Philadelphia exert ever}' effort to advance his interests 
and build up what is already a great industry although still but in the 
infancy of its development. 

Every year the county authorities are extending its drainage system 
and bringing more land within the area of cultivation. 

Every year the paved roads are being extended, bringing more and 
more land into easy touch with the railroad and steamship terminals. 

Truck from the Savannah farms reaches the markets four to five 
weeks ahead of similar fruits and vegetables raised in the vicinity of 
Norfolk, Va., and six to eight weeks ahead of those raised by the 
farmers of Pennsylvania, New Jersey and New York. 

The great shipping crops are Irish potatoes, cabbages, English peas, 
beans, cucumbers, tomatoes and strawberries. These are handled in 



56 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia. — A City of Opportunities. 57 

ever increasing quantities. Other vegetables are rai.sed principall}^ for 
the local market, but are shipped in a minor way. 

Irish potatoes are one of the main crops, and generally very profit- 
able. Planting begins about February i, shipping about May 15. 

Snap beans are planted from February 20 to March 10. Shipping 
begins about May i. 

Cabbages are raised nearly the year round. For shipping they are 
planted late in the fall and marketed principally in April and May ; ship- 
ping frequently begins in March. Seeds are planted in October-Novem- 
ber and the plants put out in December-January. 

English peas are planted early in January and shipped in March- 
April. 

Tomatoes are another great crop. The seeds are sown in hot-beds 
in February, the plants set out the first days of April, and the fruit is 
ready for picking from the middle of May on. 

Cucumber seed is sown in March and shipping begins about May 15. 

Onion sets are put out in September-October and the}^ are marketed 
through the winter and spring. 

Turnips are planted in September. They are ready for market in 
January. 

Strawberries are set out in September-October. Fruit is gathered 
from April i to June i. 

Other vegetables are easil}^ raised, but generally sufficiently only 
for local consumption. 

An average yield per acre is as follows : 
Cabbage, 300 crates. 
Irish potatoes, 60 barrels. 
English peas, 150 baskets. 
Tomatoes, 300 crates. 
Snap beans, 200 baskets. 
Cucumbers, 500 baskets. 
Strawberries, 2,000 quart baskets. 
Onions, 500 bushels. 

At the present time there are over one hundred truck farmers 
operating in the immediate vicinity of Savannah. The total area culti- 
vated by them is about 3,500 acres. Some of the larger farms include 
several hundred acres of highly cultivated land. Negro labor is princi- 
pally used. It is cheap, plentiful and satisfactory. 

Three crops are allowed yearly, generally two of vegetables, followed 
by hay, although three vegetable crops can be had if desired. 

A number of the truckers operating on the largest scale have their 
homes in the city, driving out to their farms daily and leaving a reliable 
negro foreman in charge at night. In this way they and their families 
enjoy all the advantages of city life without interference with farm 
operations. Land can still be rented or purchased within convenient 
distance of the city. 



58 



Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 




Savannah, Georgia.— A City of Opportunities. 



59 




6o 



vSavannah, Georgia.— a City of Opportunities. 




Chatham County Court House. Savannah, Ga. 



Seventy-five thousand tons of sulphate and muriate of potash were 
imported to Savannah the year ending September i , for consumption in 
its fertihzer works. 



Fift}' thousand tons of sulphur ore are brought into the port of 
Savannah yearly. 



The average time for a sailing vessel from vSavannah to Liverpool is 
ten days less than from New Orleans to that port. 



Savannah has churches of all denominations. It contains some of 
the handsomest church structures in Georgia. 



««ACT, ACT IN THE LIVING PRESENT.'* 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




